ABB Wins $160m Kuwait Contract

Swiss industrial conglomerate ABB has won a contract worth $160 billion from Kuwait’s ministry of electricity and water (MEW) to construct two substations in the northern region of the country.

The substations will aid the expansion of oil fields in the northern region of Raudhatain and will support the Gulf state’s long-term vision in raising its crude output, ABB said in a statement.

The orders won by ABB are for turnkey projects in Kuwait’s north Rawdatain region and include the design, supply, installation and commissioning of two 300/132 kilovolt (kV) gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substations as well as the extension of three existing 132 kV GIS substations.

The company added that the order, which was for turnkey projects, was booked in the fourth quarter of 2013.

ABB said that the substations are scheduled to be completed by 2016.

Kuwait has crude oil reserves in excess of 104 billion barrels accounting for around 10 percent of global reserves, the fourth largest in the world. As a result, the petroleum industry is the biggest contributor to the national economy, accounting for nearly half of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The government is making significant investments to enhance its power infrastructure in order to support a planned expansion of crude oil production from the current level of about 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd) to 4 million bpd by 2020. These substations will reinforce the expansion of oil fields in the northern region of Rawdatain, and support Kuwait’s long term vision to position it as a regional trading and business hub.

Subsidised electricity rates have pushed up per capita energy consumption in the Gulf state with power consumption forecast to rise further by 2030.